🔗 Share this article Folly and Monarchical Hubris Damaged Andrew, and It May Not Be Over Yet This episode commenced with a single photograph, arguably the most consequential ever captured of a royal family member. In the frame appeared the Earl of Inverness, with his arm around a female youth, while a companion beamed conspiratorially in the backdrop. Without that image, taken at a gathering in 2001, it would have been difficult to accept the assertions of a young woman who said she was moved across the ocean and compelled to have cursory intimate contact with a prince of the royal bloodline? An odd, revealing gesture by someone who had publicly asserted to have never been aware of her, claimed he could never have had sex with her, and yet handed over a large amount of his mother's resources to avert a protracted lawsuit. Years of Scandal Against this backdrop, conversations of the monarchy acting swiftly to sever ties with Andrew are wide of the mark. This controversy has continued for the better part of 15 years since that image, and another snapshot of Andrew ambling pleasantly with a convicted sex offender surfaced. Hubris: To what extent did his brothers and sisters, perhaps even his parents, know that Andrew was so presumptuous? Dubious Friendships: They must have known, if his aides and the police were performing their duties, that he had some deeply disreputable associates given he openly hosted them to palaces. Monetary Excess: If the family did not know about his personal conduct, they certainly knew about his overspending with public money. Journeys were listed in official documents: helicopter transfers from the royal residence to a golf course and back again in time for midday meal, exclusive air travel instead of regular transport, all for the benefit of "the travel enthusiast". A Life of Privilege Additionally the arrogance which demanded deference when he appeared in a room or the supreme awareness about his royal titles used on his correspondence in messages to his associates. He avoided accountability while his matriarch, who inexplicably pampered him, was still living. The Queen did at least remove him of official roles and honorary colonelcies in the aftermath of his catastrophic and, we now know, mendacious public statement six years ago. Latest Events Just in the last 14 days that events progressed rapidly, following the release of books giving more troubling details of his conduct and that of his associates. Further disclosures have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could escape deceiving about his interaction with a notorious figure. The public (and the press) were far ahead of the royal family. There was not a single person of any importance to speak up for him, a result of all those years of hubris. Monarchical Concerns The wiser royals understood that. The key objective is to transfer the institution, if not as heretofore at least complete and unblemished. They have spent the last 190 years trying to overcome the legacy of earlier rulers, demonstrating they are beneficial, responsible and attentive to their subjects. He was placing all that in jeopardy in an era when deference and secrecy is no longer sufficient. Consequences Finally, the famously uncertain sovereign was pressured more. There was little choice. The palace had lost control of the narrative. Now it is the removal of titles and the ongoing and permanent public humiliation that will afflict Andrew the most. Reduction: Lowered to just Mr Mountbatten-Windsor Prior Instance: The first royal to surrender his designations in recent history Naval Career: Particularly stinging given his service in the Falklands war He continues to be a royal advisor, theoretically able to substitute for the sovereign, and he is still in the succession to the throne, but neither of these will ever occur. Future Prospects Do individuals he comes across still defer to him? Could they still forget themselves and call him Your Highness? Might they say Mr, Certainly, he is not moving to suburbia, but to the monarchy's extensive grounds at a royal residence. There, he will be provided by the king with one of the grace and favour houses and given some sort of financial support. It is not his previous residence, where he paid a token payment for more than 20 years, and Norfolk is a bit distant, but even so it may not be adequate distance. Outstanding Concerns Matters remain unresolved. There are still records in the hands of US Congress to be made public. Governmental Scrutiny: Might lawmakers demand more Monetary Probe: Or examine the improper use of state resources Legal Possibility: There may even be a police investigation into his conduct Maybe for the present the harm to the monarchy to the institution is contained. The message from the royal household was evidently that the stripping of designations was what the sovereign, and especially other senior family members, sought. A Shift in Position The cessation of pretence that Andrew was doing it voluntarily. And, notably, the short communication showed evidently that the institution were supporting the victim's narrative of occurrences. Even more, for the premiere occasion they finally showed regard for the victims: "The measures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the truth that he persists in refuting the claims against him." In the end it is entitlement, self-seeking and laziness that will undermine the institution. In his foolishness, self-indulgence and venality, Andrew seems never to have learned that truth.